William T. Miller
William T. Miller was an early member of the Board of Trustees of Shimer College, in the early Seminary period. He was one of the most prominent early attorneys in Mount Carroll, and in 1850 was elected to the state legislature. In 1852, he submitted the Act to incorporate the Mount Carroll Seminary, which with its passage created the legal entity known today as Shimer College. In 1857, Miller oversaw the construction of the new courthouse in Mount Carroll, in collaboration with Jacob P. Emmert. Mentioned *in "Shimer College History 1853-1950", Rosabel Glass, 1953: *:Headed by John Wilson, attorney, and William T. Miller, state legislator, the townspeople secured in 1852 the passage of a bill in the Legislature incorporating their project as Mount Carroll Seminary. *in History of Carroll County, Illinois, 1878, pp. 276-277: *:Wednesday, May 27, 1857, the board again met, when the above named committee presented their report, setting forth that they had examined all the proposals for the building of said court house, and presented for the consideration of the board the proposal of Wm. T. Miller, the said proposal being, in the opinion of the committee, the most favorable for the county, said proposal being as follows: *::I propose to build the court house in accordance with the specifications, profiles and plans furnished by Olmsted and Nicholson, of Chicago, for thirty-one thousand five hundred dollars, in the following payments, to-wit: *::In hand, $4,500; March 1, 1858, $4,500; March 1, 1859, $4,500; March 1, 1860, $4,500; March 1, 1861, $4,500; March 1, 1862, $4,500; March 1, 1863, $4,500; interest at ten per cent on each payment after due, if not pain at maturity. I propose for the above payments to put the whole building under roof, finish jail and jailer's rooms, county offices and fire-proof vaults by March 1, A. D. 1859; finish court room for court purposes by March 1, 1860; and complete the building by March 1, A. D. 1861. And I propose further that, should said proposition be accepted, I will enter into good and sufficient bonds for the fulfillment of my part of the contract. *::WM. T. MILLER. *::By J. P. EMMERT. *:A motion was made to accept the above proposition, upon which the yeas and nays were called: *::Ayes-M. Bailey, P. Markley, Jas. Hallett, Albert Healey, O. S. Beardsley, N. Stephenson, H. F. Lowman-7. *::Nays-E. chamberlain, M. Neikik, J. R. Shelby, Jas. DeWolf, J. M. Manning-5. *:The motion prevailed, and Miller's proposition was accepted. *:Tuesday, May 29, David Emmert, Abraham Beeler and Philander Syemour were appointed a committee to enter into a contract on the part of the county with Wm. T. Miller, in accordance with his proposition. The committee were fully instructed, and required to take a good and sufficient bond from Mr. Miller for a faithful performance of his undertaking, etc. Several resolutions of instruction to the building committee were spread upon the journal, with a view to the protection of the interests of the tax-payers of the county. The contract was duly drawn up and signed by the contracting parties, and all the preliminaries arranged to commence building the present very handsome, commodious, and convenient county buildings, Mr. Miller being required to enter into bond in the sum of $6,000, with good and sufficient security, etc. *:August 3, 1857, the first instalment, as provided in Mr. Miller's proposition, was paid to him in county orders, the numbers commencing with 1804 and ending with 1834-thirty-one in all-and representing $4,500. *:September 15, 1857, the board ordered that "W. T. Miller and Jacob P. Emmert be allowed the exclusive use and occupation of the court house square, in the Town of Mount Carroll, during the time they are engaged in building and finishing the court house thereon, for all purposes connected with the erection of said court house." *:June 1, A. D. 1857, a contract was entered into by and between David Emmert, Philander Seymour and A. Beeler, building committee, on the part of Carroll County, and State of Illinois, as party of the first part, and William T. Miller and Jacob P. Emmert, party of the second part, etc., by which the last named undertook the building of the court house, on the terms proposed in Miller's proposition by Emmert, May 27. Word was at once commenced. The building of the stone basement walls were let to Mr. James Watson, and were completed that year. In May, 1858, James and B. H. Hallett, masons, commenced the brick walls, which were fully completed, and the building enclosed, by the beginning of Winter. In that Spring of 1859, Sheriff Nase was ordered by the judge of the circuit court to occupy the jail department, but the building was not accepted by the county until Tuesday, June 4, 1861, when the board of supervisors ordered "that the clerks and sheriff be instructed to remove, occupying the offices in the new court house,." *:The delay in occupying the new building grew out of the fact that a controversy had grown up between the county authorities and the contractors. The former maintained that the terms of the contract had not been filled, and that, in many respects the plans and specifications had not been followed. The main sources of difference arose in regard to the roof (which was claimed to be imperfect and leaky) and the fire-proof vaults. Committees of investigation were appointed, and suits against the contractors for damages, etc., were threatened, but the differences between the parties in interest were finally satisfactorily settled, without resort to the courts of law. However, the vaults were overhauled, and remodeled, and the roof repaired. These expenses were incurred by the county, for the reason that the building committee had accepted the contract as completed. Profiled *in Carroll County: A Goodly Heritage, 1968: *:William T. Miller of Mt. Carroll, an attorney, was active in the building of the courthouse (still is used as the north section) that replaced the old stone building. In 1850 he was elected to the state legislature. In 1852, at a special session he presented and secured the passage of a bill incorporating the Mount Carroll Seminary and was one of its incorporators, buying ten shares of $50. Following his wife's death he went to Kansas City to live with his daughter. He is buried in Oak Ridge cemetery. References Category:Lawyers Category:Politicians